Optical fibers find use in a variety of applications. For example, in the drilling and completion industry, optical fibers are utilized to provide communication between components and to measure various conditions and component parameters in a downhole environment as well parameters of downhole components. Exemplary optical fiber sensors include temperature sensors and strain sensors, which can be used to monitor deformation in downhole components. In some applications, optical fibers are coated with protective layers and may also be bonded to substrates. Portions of an optical fiber coating and/or substrate bonding material may be removed, for example, so that the optical fiber can be terminated. The coating and/or bonding material may also be removed so that the optical fiber can be spliced or connected to another fiber, or connected to a signal source or detector.
Typical methods of stripping polymer coatings, such as polyimide, from optical fibers include either burning of the coating using an open flame, or dipping of the fiber into vials of heated acid. These methods pose potential problems by the nature of the chemicals used and fire hazards.